In which issues concerning the profession of philosophy are bitched griped about

Friday, May 27, 2016

A NEWER permanent thread to share job info (5/27/16)

A lot of people in the comments seem interested in having space to discuss or request information about specific jobs. If providing information and if possible, please provide the source of your information.

Since you all seem to find it useful, here's our third permanent thread for this. (Big ups to our moderators!)

In the future, after this isn't at the top of the page, you can find this thread in the sidebar. Here's a picture, with the place to find this thread in the future.

471 comments:

So does anyone have a sense of whether it is now standard for hiring departments to go into radio silence after fly outs? I thought the standard was to send an email saying roughly "We enjoyed meeting you and getting to interview you. We have made an offer to another candidate, and/but will/will not be in touch again if they reject that offer. Good luck with your job search." But I haven't heard a peep from any of the places I had fly outs, and it's been 3+ weeks since the final fly out scheduled in every case.

I negotiated a TT offer in late 2015 for a spring 2016 start. I accepted the salary because the union already negotiated that. (In fact, between the time I was hired and the time I started, the union negotiated a 10% increase.) I asked for spousal hiring and moving expenses, but only got the moving. It's a community college district (and union), so no spousal hire. I'm happy.

8:05: My first market year I had one on-campus and they were in touch (but, the circumstances were such that they knew that I would know when they made an offer). My second year, I had five on-campuses (2 in the US), and I only received communication from the two (not in the US) that made me offers. My third year, I had one on-campus and I have not heard anything yet; it's not updated on the blog, so here I wait.

I did an on-campus interview for a job that had already been offered to another candidate. I didn't find this out until after my interview. They were just interviewing me in case the other person declined the offer. So, apparently that's now a thing.

I generally don't care about PFOs, and I especially don't understand why people pick apart every word and complain about insincerity etc. But at this point in the market, I really wish hiring departments wouldn't bother sending anything at all. Especially if they don't even include *some* interesting piece of information, like the number of applicants. I don't need to hear that I'm no longer being considered for a job I applied for on Nov. 1. I know. If anything it just gets my hopes up momentarily that I made a cut for a postdoc or visiting position. I actually just had a department send me an affirmative action survey, when I know they're far into their process and I've obviously been eliminated.

8:05 -- it is still common for SCs to say nothing until they have a signed contract from their hire. Three weeks is still within the range of possibility -- at many (all?) schools, the final decision isn't up to the SC or the dept chair. Deans and others up the food chain also have to approve the hire, which can take time. In addition, it is standard to give a candidate two weeks to respond to an offer. So after three weeks, I would not assume you're toast.I've only once ever been told that I was the second choice, and could get an offer if the first choice declined. But I know of other people who have been told that as well, so it happens.

10:08 - Do you mean the "modelling interdisciplinary inquiry" WUSTL postdoc? If so, I got my rejection a few weeks ago (3-4, IIRC). They said it was late because I'd made the long list, though not the short.

@6:14. I just saw someone post on facebook that they've accepted a job at University of New Hampshire. I don't know if it's the same job, but that person works in ethics/social political if that helps to narrow it down. Sorry :(

Yesterday I received a PFO from a job I interviewed for (South Carolina-Lancaster). It came via snail mail from the HR person (not the search committee) and it contained the line "we have hired a *qualified* applicant who meets the needs of ... blah, blah, blah"

I usually ignore PFO's, but for some reason this one felt really disrespectful.

7:19PM, Yes, the Yale Humanities Postdoc (sic!) had 365 applicants and went to someone who does not even have their PhD, an ABD. The Chicago Humanities Postdoc also went to an ABD from... the University of Chicago. Good PhDs are hard to find nowadays. Like the majority of any sort of important position, tenure-track, postdocs, visiting - they all go to people from the top 20, who in some cases have minimal publications history and no teaching experience. They should just close down all other departments and let the top 20 give all the jobs to each other ad infinitum - because they already do that in a tribalist, nepotist, and demeritorious way.

For anyone wondering Concordia has already filled their position. I know that things have gotten so bad that it's now considered naive to even expect a PFO, but it's still sad that Concordia couldn't be bothered.

@ 7:03 Is there really a question about what "things have gotten so bad" means? The market is terrible. Contract positions receive hundreds of applications. Even a few years ago it was the norm to at least expect a PFO, but now even this is too much to ask, apparently. As a result job applicants have to live with constant uncertainty. It is bad.

@4:14 Brandon had their fly-outs already, not sure if they've made a decision.

4:50 - Yeah. But then again, Brandon is in the middle of nowhere in *Manitoba* (and thus more nowhere than most American nowheres). It's a three-hour drive to Winnipeg, which isn't exactly a bustling metropolis, or six hours to Regina, which is basically the same as Winnipeg.

I applied, but that's because I'd take any Canadian job over most American jobs.

I'm new to the application process - can anyone let me know what the top 2-3 online sources are for full-time positions, and how to find these sources? I'm mostly interested in tenure-track positions, but realize the market is probably quite weak, and am also interested in any short-term, full-time positions. Thanks -

Eh, I've seen too many unfounded accusations and misdescribed cases to take these seriously anymore. And that's a shame, because sexual harassment is a serious charge. But it appears to be thrown around far too loosely in the profession today. I don't think this is a good state of affairs for anyone, not least those who have actually suffered.